Feed Africa focuses on 4 goals, targets 2025

NaijaAgroNet:

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has disclosed that the Feed Africa initiative will drive transformation of African Agriculture into a globally competitive, focuses on four goals to be delivered by 2025, reports NaijaAgroNet.

These four goals, NaijaAgroNet gathered include to end extreme poverty, eliminate hunger and malnutrition, make Africa a net exporter of agricultural commodities and attempt to move to the top of key agricultural value chains.

AfDB also revealed that these four goals have appendage of aspirations comprising that for the continent to end extreme poverty, there must be corresponding contribution towards alleviating poverty though job creation and providing sustainable livelihoods, while targeting to lift some 130 million out f extreme poverty by 2025.

The second goal of Feed Africa, NaijaAgroNet reports, centres on eliminating hunger and malnutrition tend to bring forth food security for all Africans that are ‘undernourished’ even as the goal targets zero hunger and malnutrition before the end of next nine years.

On the third goal, AfDB informed that making Africa a net exporter of agricultural commodities will be ambitiously matched by eliminating large scale imports of commodities that could be produced in Africa, and selectively begin to export, such that Africa’s target will be to net trade balance in the billions of dollars.

Whereas the fourth goal, NaijaAgroNet reports is to move the continent to the top of key agricultural value chains, by becoming Number 1 in either processing or the overall value chain, by market share and by value addition, thereby positioning Africa’s share of the market value for processed commodities to about 40 per cent, for instance with cocoa grinding.

In addition, NaijaAgroNet learnt that Feed Africa is to further turn agriculture into inclusive and business-oriented sector that creates wealth, generates gainful employment, and improves quality of life.

Thus, Feed Africa echoes the commitments made under the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) as articulated in the Maputo (2003) and the Malabo (2014) Declarations.

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Agro stakeholders brainstorm on family farming in Africa

NaijaAgroNet:

Stakeholders in the agricultural sector across the continent are brainstorming on the family farmers ability to feed Africa and change the face of the sector, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Forum, NaijaAgroNet gathered is part of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) framework, coordinated by the five regional farmers’ organisations namely the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), ROPPA (Network of Farmers' and Agricultural Producers' Organisations of West Africa (ROPPA), Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU), Regional Platform of Central African Farmers Organization, (PROPAC), Union Maghrébine et Nord Africaine des Agriculteurs (UMNAGRI) and their continental platform Pan African Farmers’ Organisation (PAFO) together with the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency. 

A press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet by the duo of Benito Eliasi from SACAU and NEPAD’s Mwanja Ng’anjo, stakeholders in the agriculture sector are examining the much bigger role in creating employment to increase disposable income levels and household food security on the continent. 

NaijaAgroNet gathered that participants focus would be on the potential for sustainable economic growth, family farming - Africa’s backbone in agriculture. 

However in order for the women and men at the helm of agriculture to reach their full potential, a coalition of partnerships was required; to bring African agriculture to world class production levels, hence, the partnership with several regional farmers group, between November 10 and 12, 2014 at the Garden Court within the axis of Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that SACAU is a co-host of the forum that is connected to the United Nations (UN) International Year of Family Farming and the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security. 

NaijaAgroNet recalls that this is a strong signal that the international community recognizes the important contribution of family farmers to world food security. Noting that in June, African heads of state committed themselves to use agriculture growth to double food productivity, halve poverty and eliminate child under nutrition by 2025 when they came up with the Malabo Declaration following a meeting in Equatorial Guinea.

The role of family farmers on the continent, NaijaAgroNet learnt will be critical in achieving these goals. While the forum would be attended by farmers and representatives of their organisations, high-level government representatives, private sector stakeholders and international role-players and is also open to representatives who work in, with or for African agriculture.

NaijaAgroNet the four thematic areas to be looked into by the different regional farmers’ organisation for the 2014 CAADP Africa Forum including “Climate Change and climate -smart agriculture (SACAU);  Farmers’ Organisations and marketing and trade (EAFF); Mechanisation and family farming (ROPPA); and Family farming and finance (PROPAC). 

+Remmy Nweke  +Naija AgroNet +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +NEPAD/APDEV African Platform for Development Effectiveness +NEPAD Agency +Nepadaprmnigeria @Mwanja Nga'njo

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